


Dyad

by Kaggath



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Sith, The old Republic - Freeform, Twi'lek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-03 07:09:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14563710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaggath/pseuds/Kaggath
Summary: Past and presentSuffering and comfortShackles and freedomVictory and defeatSometimes they are all the same





	Dyad

Quiet was the thing Eleena craved most, but this was the wrong kind of quiet. Valor’s pulse drowned in her own. Unseen, unheard, she was a silent storm within the sleeping chambers of the great and powerful general, Darth Malgus. Nestled in the cowl of his quarters, immured within the ship that hung in the unforgiving silence of space, she whispered his name in privacy.

“Veradun…”

Both curse and prayer, his name was the first part of him he tossed aside, and the last part of him she clung to. So quiet even Eleena herself couldn’t hear, she let the invocation pull at her consciousness. For a moment she wondered if he, impossibly far and entrenched in the chaos of war, could hear her trying to call him back. 

 

**Several Years Earlier**

Standing straight and looking lightyears beyond the dusty, filthy planet of Geonosis, Eleena refused to acknowledge her pain. Typically items would be cleaned and polished before resell. Especially items with unique patterns or coloration. The sickly indigo of her bruises could not be mistaken for unique patterns, and colors weren’t the first thing inspected in this area. Shapes and numbers, shapes and numbers. 

All her numbers and colors and shapes added up to only one outcome. Nothing inside her could be perceived as hope, even by her, and her attitude is why she was here to begin with. All of that is precisely why she would not cower. Eleena cleaved a wound into the atmosphere with her stare just above the horizon. 

“Remember always that you are not dirt…” echoed in her mind as sand carried on the wind licked its forked tongue against her ankles. Those were her last words to Eleena, the reason Eleena made the deadly mistake of refusing to perform her duties. The sting in her throat mirrored inside and out, matching the smart of her split lip as a bitter smile teased just below the surface. 

Dizzy with hunger, at first Eleena thought the black mass in her vision was unconsciousness or death, something ready to steal her away without having to pay. Instead of swimming and shifting it stalked, and a brilliant flash of gold contrasting against the imposing darkness ripped her gaze from its proud incline. 

From there, green into his yellow, and to Eleena yellow into her green. For a moment they looked into each other. Without moving her head Eleena returned the accusation in her gaze skyward. In the time it took the sun of Geonosis to prickle her skin she felt the brilliant flash of those yellow eyes no less than three more times. 

Between the lack of food and damaged hearing—an ear cone that seemed the preferred target of mild ire—the heavy drop of boots behind her came in muffled thunder. Though they may have sounded far away, the ground seemed to crumble and fall away with every cratering step. Eleena could feel the electric sizzle of appraising yellow eyes.

The Geonosian heat was affecting her. Every time Eleena breathed out the cavern of her stomach moaned. An impossibly large hand covered her back as she succumbed to the emptiness. 

 

 

The main chamber door slid open and small, clipped steps brought Eleena to the present. Imperial machination, punctual though it may be, was not this punctual. Eleena removed the corners of the bed lining and folded them mechanically. As she smoothed them down she found small satisfaction in the sound of her callouses gripping at the fabric.

The human custodian hesitated in the doorway. Of course he was human. Everyone was human. His gossamer veiled surprise only hinted contempt. 

“You may leave them here,” Eleena squared her shoulders as she gestured to the bedding she folded. Tilting her chin up proudly she stood half a head taller than the new human. Eleena knew it was about time for the custodian to bring new bedding, but she had distrust of any new being. The sharpness in her scrutiny belied that of a meek and tender servant girl. Then again, so did her well-weathered blasters.

Eleena saw the calculations in the human’s eyes. She knew better than to speak, to give any details or information beyond what was absolutely necessary. 

“Very good,” he said reluctantly, leaving the fresh bedding and gathering up the old. Eleena watched him leave, listened to the clipped stride as he went on to continue his duties, and waited until the hush of isolation settled. The hollow un-noise cradled her as she deftly tucked the cloth into place.

Tidying her handiwork, a puff of imperial detergent brought her drunkenly to the past once more…

 

**In Orbit of Geonosis**

Foreign beeping greeted Eleena. Gray walls she didn’t recognize loomed over her like the prison it must have been. Her head hurt like it was splitting from the inside out. No new pains greeted her; only the ache of bruises and exhaustion, hunger and despair she knew so well registered in her self-catalogue of injury. 

Eleena knew what it felt like to pass out from hunger. Whatever overcame her on Geonosis may have received help from her empty stomach, but starvation never put her out of it this long. Groggily lolling her head towards the sounds she heard, those yellow eyes watched her. She didn’t react.

He was human, with a strong chin and the air of a man of command. Eleena blinked slowly, drawing in a breath to brace herself for whatever would come next. He stood from the desk he worked at and dwarfed it like a planet and its moon. Impossibly tall and built like the aesthetics of his muscles were the last thing on his mind, in another time, another life, the juxtaposition may have been funny.

“Sit up.” His first order was easy enough. Or so Eleena thought. Weakly struggling to her elbows she finally noticed the lightness of her throat. The nakedness. Surprise guided her fingertips to her neck, but instead of the bulky collar that had been her life for so long, the only thing she could feel was the welted flesh of where she had been cut. 

He took her by the wrist. Not gently, but far from rough. Firm. Eleena dared a flash of a glimpse into his eyes again. She couldn’t identify the emotion there, but it wasn’t anger. Not wanting to risk changing that she grit her teeth and brought herself up to a full sit. Before releasing her he placed a glucose tablet into her hand. She hadn’t noticed he had it. 

“You will stay in this room,” he said. “Wait here until I return for you.” The imposing man of few words left her there, in what she identified as a bed. Behind the whispering zip of the sliding door and heavy feet followed silence. 

Eleena didn’t know what to make of her situation. Her only instruction was to stay, for which she was grateful. She couldn’t perform any duties in this state if she tried. The room wasn’t intended for medical use, but it didn’t seem to be for long-term living either. Everything was hard clean lines and not much else. No art or décor, barely any furnishing beyond the bed she occupied and the desk she realized was in another room…and the subtle and continuous hum of something not stationary.

She could be in an entirely new system and not even know. With a sigh of almost relief, she felt herself slipping again, this time into a true sleep. The last thing she remembered was the smell of unfamiliar bedding.

 

 

Eleena didn’t realize she had fallen asleep until the sound of the door roused her. 

“Eleena!” the familiar voice of Darth Malgus filled the entire quarters and she released the blaster she instinctively drew. 

They met at the door to the sleeping chamber, the main door slipping shut. Both arms, both legs still there, relief softened tension in her shoulders that bundled there any time he left. Eleena felt her mouth splitting into a sad smile. Her savior, Veradun, returned to her alive again. 

Dutifully tending to the freshly blossomed gouges he saw too minor to warrant treatment, Eleena silently thanked him for coming back, today and every day before. All the way back to the first day he left her, returning some small time later after killing her previous master.


End file.
